Basic Trope: A contrast between a highly-skilled, perfectionist virtuoso and a less-skilled, but more inventive and original, artist.
- Straight: Alice and Brittany are figure skaters. Alice is highly skilled and practices daily, but is not charismatic or artistic. Brittany is less skilled and rarely practices, but is charismatic and artistic. Judges who examine technique favor Alice, but the audience loves Brittany.
- Exaggerated: Alice is obsessed with technique, is a true stoic, and takes absolutely no interest in the art of figure skating. Brittany doesn't care at all about technique, is a scenery-chewing Large Ham, and is so artistic you might think she's into painting, not skating. Also, they are bitter rivals, and break into Ham-to-Ham Combat whenever they see each other.
- Downplayed: Alice is more interested in technique than performing, and Brittany is more interested in performing than technique, but they both value both disciplines.
- Justified:
- Alice and Brittany come from backgrounds that value technique and performance, respectively.
- Alice and Brittany's trainers have different styles.
- Inverted: Leaning too far towards performer or technician is considered bad form among skaters, and anyone taking it seriously is expected to master both styles (or at least learn them equally).
- Subverted:
- Alice seems to value being technically skilled, but come a performance in front of the audience, and she shows how charismatic she really is.
- Brittany seems to have a charismatic and artistic style, but come a competition in front of a row of judges, and she shows that she really has been paying attention to technique.
- Double Subverted:
- ...despite still showing Alice's clear technical abilities.
- ...while still being charismatic enough to impress a few onlookers who aren't interested in how skilled Brittany is.
- Parodied: Alice and Brittany have to do a performance together, which quickly goes off the rails and turns into a great battle on the ice. Alice had been planning every move of this, while it was just spur-of-the-moment for Brittany. They're still even by the time somebody realizes they're not just acting and they get dragged off in different directions.
- Zig Zagged: Alice learns to enjoy life and Brittany starts to take practice seriously Once per Episode, but suffer from Aesop Amnesia.
- Averted: While Alice and Brittany are Foils to each other, their differences lie in something else than their methods at work.
- Enforced: "We're going to introduce another ice-skater on the show, but if she's just a carbon copy of Alice, people will hate her... I got it! We make her really outgoing!"
- Lampshaded: "It's like they're that one really popular guy with decent grades and the bullied genius nerd at school, just on ice skates."
- Invoked: Alice and Brittany are sisters who compete for attention. During childhood, their parents hire different trainers for them so they will both be appreciated, but for different reasons.
- Exploited: Their rivalry gets played up by the media for publicity purposes.
- Defied: Both women vow not to take their personal preferences to extremes.
- Discussed:Brittany: The performance's in a week. You've got plenty of time to practice even if you do hang out with me tonight—
Alice: I think I'll pass. Unlike you, I'd prefer being appreciated by the professionals.
Brittany: This is why the people think you're stuck up! - Conversed: "I like rivalries and all, but maybe Alice and Brittany are taking it to unrealistic extremes. It's not like people with differing mindsets have to fight like that." "Correct. But this is not reality. It's fiction. It runs on Rule of Drama."
- Implied: Alice is most often seen practicing, while Brittany is seen doing more 'fun' things in her free time. The audience is shown one interview for them each: when asked what they think of each other, they keep themselves professional, but it's obvious they're just being polite.
- Deconstructed:
- Both Brittany and Alice find themselves at a disadvantage to Claire, the Jack of All Stats, in actually making a career out of skating: Brittany is seen as sloppy, Alice as cold, and Claire neither.
- There's Always Someone Better, and Diane, The Ace, is that someone, outclassing both Alice and Brittany in terms of technical skill and creative innovation respectively. As a result she manages to receive equal praise from both the judges and the audience while Alice and Brittany are left in the dust in terms of total scoring.
- Reconstructed: Claire is both technician and performer, so she can outscore Brittany in technique and Claire in style. However, she is overall seen as an unremarkable Master of None because she excels in neither area. Brittany's creative expression is praised, even if her form could use a little polish, and Alice is praised for her graceful movements, even if her routines are strictly conventional. Which one comes out on top depends on the scoring rules for each competition.
Back to Technician Versus Performer.
